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Samsung Electronics' chip clean room Samsung Electronics Co. likely posted record revenue in the first quarter, driven by brisk memory chip sales. Its shares, however, fell to 52-week lows on growing uncertainty over its business outlook.Samsung, the world’s largest memory and smartphone maker, said on Thursday it estimates its sales in the three months to March 31 at 77 trillion won ($63 billion), an all-time high for the first-quarter period.That’s up 17.8% from the same period a year earlier.In its earnings guidance, Samsung said its first-quarter operating profit is estimated at 14.1 trillion won, up 50.3% from a year ago.The company is due to release detailed results later this month.Analysts said the South Korean tech giant’s strong revenue growth was supported by solid demand for memory chips from data center clients amid a persistent global chip shortage.The chipmaker also likely benefited from the production disruption at rival NAND flash memory plants in Japan jointly owned by US Western Digital Corp. and Japanese Kioxia Holdings Corp. due to contamination of raw materials. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S22 smartphones to compete with Apple's iPhones Robust sales of smartphones and high-end home appliances likely boosted the company’s first-quarter earnings, analysts said.In early February, the company announced new additions to its Galaxy S series models as the world’s top smartphone maker by volume faced growing competition from Apple Inc. and Chinese companies in both premium and low-end segments.During its Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event, Samsung unveiled its latest smartphones, the Galaxy S22 series, including the much-awaited S22 Ultra with a built-in S Pen stylus, previously available only on Samsung’s Note family of smartphones.Samsung expects the new products to help it strengthen its overall mobile phone market leadership and put it on an equal footing with Apple’s high-end line of iPhones.SHARES SINK ON MURKY BUSINESS OUTLOOKDespite the company’s strong quarterly performance, however, its stock fell to a fresh 52-week low in early trade in Seoul on concerns that Samsung may be losing its competitiveness against rivals in the smartphone as well as chip sectors. Samsung's big-hit home appliance brand Bespoke The stock traded 0.4% lower at 68,300 won in the mid-morning session versus the broader Kospi market’s 1.2% decline. Earlier in the day, Samsung had fallen as much as 0.6% to a 52-week low of 68,100 won.The weak stock performance followed the overnight fall in tech shares in the US market amid a view that the US Fed and central banks in other countries, including Korea, will accelerate their tightening monetary bias to keep inflation in check.But analysts said investors also unloaded Samsung shares as they were unconvinced of Samsung’s future growth strategy.In mid-March, Samsung said it is looking to the metaverse and robotics as keys to the tech company’s future. It said it is also seeking acquisitions in the artificial intelligence, 5G and automotive electronics sectors.Some analysts said it may take years for Samsung to lead its rivals in the suggested new areas of growth.While reporting spectacular 2021 earnings in January, Samsung skipped the routine capital expenditure plans for 2022, citing uncertainty.In the chip foundry sector, the company faces an uphill battle against market leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) at the leading edge of chip processing.By Ji-Eun Jeongjeong@hankyung.comIn-Soo Nam edited this article.
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